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U.S. Trade Gap Widened to Record
$56.53 Billion in Second Quarter

By

Robert S. GreenbergerStaff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Sept. 11, 1998 9:17 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON -- Shaken by global economic fears and uncertainties, foreign buyers of U.S.-made goods sharply reduced their spending, pushing the U.S. current-account trade deficit to a record $56.53 billion in the second quarter.

The Commerce Department's report didn't come as a surprise; economists had known for some time that the Asian economic crisis would suppress U.S. exports and increase imports. But with the distress spreading to Russia and Latin America, and with growing political uncertainty in Washington, many analysts...